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Topic: NBA 2004/05 (Read 19097 times)

As bad as all the fans were, I think Artest should be suspended for the remainder of the season. He's a ******* psychopath. I think Jermaine O'neal should be put in jail for assault, for that horrendous cheap shot on the fan who was just picking himself up from the floor. I think Stephen Jackson should get at least 10 games. I think Ben Wallace should get 2-3 for the shove to Artest's neck. And I think some of the fans should get tossed in the pen for their contributions as well.

But those 3 Pacers players, man... Unbelievable. No control. It's a freakin' beer in your face. We used to throw drinks at eachother all the time in school. Big deal. It's not the end of the world...

Pacers can definitely kiss their regular season goodbye though, or at least home court advantage in the playoffs, probably.

Alright, when can we expect some suspensions? I'm expecting Artest and Stephen Jackson to get at least 10 games a piece, and Ben Wallace anywhere from 2-5 games. I'm sure Jermaine O'Neal and some other random players throwing punches will sit a couple on the pine too. Artest and Jackson in particular might get something stiffer than 10 games, possibly the season off. Artest punched that fan in the face right on the court and dropped him, then Jermaine O'Neal punched a fan too right in that area.

November 20, 2004NEW YORK (AP) -- The NBA suspended Ron Artest, Jermaine O'Neal and Stephen Jackson of Indiana and Ben Wallace of Detroit on Saturday for taking part in one of the ugliest brawls in U.S. sports history.

The suspensions were indefinite, and the league was still investigating Friday night's melee, which commissioner David Stern called ``shocking, repulsive and inexcusable -- a humiliation for everyone associated with the NBA.''

The league issued a statement saying it was reviewing rules and security procedures ``so that fans can continue to attend our games unthreatened by events such as the ones that occurred last night.''

Well, I never condone a fan throwing anything at a player, but I also do not condone a player leaving the playing surface to engage a fan.

Wallace overreacted to a semi-hard foul. I think it was more frustration at losing than anything. He'll get suspended for sure. The fans definitely crossed the line, but Artest jumping into the stands was the explosion that made all hell break loose.

The fans that ran onto the court undoubtably had dollars signs in their eyes. Did anyone see the video of the elderly person at the bottom of the pile during a fight? You think that person or their family isn't going to sue someone? There are going to be A LOT of lawsuits out of this.

I also wouldn't be surprised to see the NBA set up barriers now to prevent fans from being so close to the action.

Now, I don't normally watch the NBA, so I'm a little ignorant about how many games are actually left in the season. But these guys have got to be suspended for way more than 10 games! How about a whole season? Maybe that'll get these tough guys to realize that you can't just attack fans in the stands, no matter how stupid they're being. Yeah, I don't know how I'd react if I had a beer thrown at me, but losing control like that is not cool. At all.

Glad to see these were just early/preliminary numbers from the AP, and that the final verdict was even more stiff. Just watched Commissioner Stern's press conference:

Artest: See ya' in 2005/06. Suspended the rest of the season (73 games)

Stephen Jackson - 30 games

Jermaine O'Neal - 25 games

Ben Wallace - 6 games (too harsh, should be 2-3 games only)

Other random Pacers guard - 5 games

Several other minor suspensions for leaving the bench - 1 game each (Billups, Campbell, Coleman, R. Miller)

And the great thing is that these suspensions aren't even staggered. Pacers may not even make the playoffs this season now, when they could've/should've had the #1 seed in the East. They'll probably still squeek in there, since it's the weakass East though. Devastating. Totally changes the landscape of the East now. Just Miama vs. Detroit now. Boring.

I'm sure the fans are gonna get their cummupins too, but it sounds like they're still working that out. I say at least take away their season tickets and/or ban them from attending games for a year.

I'd still love to see someone stick it to Jermaine with a serious lawsuit. Jail time would be icing on the cake. Apparently, beyond the one wild haymaker he connected on (with the running start) that we all saw, a cop said he saw O'Neal lay someone out in the tunnel too (off camera).